Amazing WOMEN

Discover the history of some of the great women whose lives are honoured by blue plaques

- ANDREW SHAW

It’s magical to spot a blue plaque on a building – someone of note lived or worked on the very street where you now stand! But chances are the plaque is dedicated to a man – of the 900 or so English Heritage blue plaques, only 14% are for women. With calls for this to be redressed, here are six who do have them, and richly deserve the honour.

Violette Szabo (1921-1945)

Burnley Road, Stockwell

In 1944, aged 23, and a widow with a child, Violette was sent to occupied France as a secret agent. She worked with resistance groups until captured. Brutally interrogated, she refused to speak and was sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was executed. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1947 for her bravery, accepted by her daughter Tania, then aged four.

Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991)

Long Acre, Covent Garden